Ola M. Fincke
Professor of Zoology

Phone: (405)325-5514
Fax: (405)325-6202

RM/Lab:SH201A

Dr. Fincke's web page

Current Research Interests and Subject Areas Available for Graduate Research

I am interested in the behavioral and ecological determinants of insect reproductive patterns. A major focus of my research is the community of organisms that breed in water-filled tree holes and other plant containers of the Neotropics. These discrete microhabitats harbor a relatively simple guild of top predators (i.e. odonates, a frog, and a mosquito). Using tree holes as an experimental system, I investigate the relative importance of biotic and abiotic factors on the reproductive behavior, population dynamics, and community structure. Using tree hole odonates, I study how selective pressures at the larval stage affect sexually selected adult traits. We use microsatellite DNA to measure fitness of adults under natural conditions as well as the genetic structure of odonate populations in fragmented forests of the neotropics.

A second area of research involves sexual signaling, learning polymorphic sexual signals, and speciation.

My graduate students work broadly in the areas of ecology and behavior, in both temperate and tropical habitats.

To learn more about this research, visit Dr. Fincke's web page

 

Ph.D., University of Iowa

M.A., Tufts University

B.A., St. Olaf College

 

 

 

Back to Zoology Faculty


Selected publications:

  • Fincke, OM. 2004. Polymorphic signals of harassed female odonates and the males that learn them
    support a novel frequency-dependent model. Animal Behaviour 67:833-845.

  • Fincke, OM & Hadrys, H. 2001. Unpredictable offspring survivorship in the damselfly Megaloprepus coerulatus shapes parental strategies, constrains sexual selection, and challenges traditional fitness estimates. Evolution 55:653-664.

  • Fincke, OM. 1999. Organisation of predator assemblages in Neotropical tree holes: effects of abiotic factors and priority. Ecological Entomology 24:13-23.

  • Fincke, OM. 1997. Conflict resolution in the Odonata: implications for understanding female mating patterns and female choice. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 60:201-220.

  • Fincke, OM. 1994. Population regulation of a tropical damselfly in the larval stage by food limitation, cannibalism, intraguild predation and habitat drying. Oecologia 100:118-127.

  • Fincke, OM. 1992. Consequences of larval ecology for territoriality and reproductive success of a Neotropical damselfly. Ecology 73:449-462.
 

 

 

OU Home

College of Arts and Sciences

Email Webmaster